Garment construction



Dec. 2, 1941. M. J. GREENBERG GARMENT CGNSTQRUCTION Filed may 17, 1940 Patented Dec. 2, 194i UNETED STATES ATENT one 1 Claim.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in garment constructions, and relates more particularly to an improved undergarment and to the means for supporting the same at the upper end thereof.

It is not uncommon for a feminine wearer to have several garments which are supported at their upper ends by means of shoulder straps passing from the rear of the garment over the shoulders of the wearer, such straps being secured at their forward ends to the high points of the front of the garment. Of these garments there may be bust-supporting elements such as a brassiere or bandeau, and also body garments such as slips, chemises, shirts, camisoles, and the like.

In accordance with common practice each of these garments is provided with the aforesaid shoulder straps, and when two or more of such straps pass over each shoulder of the wearer such straps seldom lie one above the other, and particularly in the case of lighter outer garments such as are worn in summer, these several shoulder straps can be seen through the outer garment. In addition to the unsightly appearance of two or more shoulder straps, there is the further uncomfortable feeling to the wearer of having several shoulder straps passing over the shoulders at spaced points. Many efforts have been made to solve this problem by employing a single shoulder strap which supports a plurality of such garments, such as a brassiere and a slip; The undergarment art shows that these efforts have followed two general lines of thought.

In one case a separate shoulder strap construction, per se, is provided, and each garment must be specially formed for attachment to the shoulder strap. In other words, the wearer must purchase three special items, to wit, a particular type of shoulder strap having a plurality of special fastening means at each end thereof, a slip or other nether body garment which is free from shoulder straps but is provided with special complementary fastening elements, and a brassire likewise provided with special fastening elements. By far the greater number of slips and brassieres, however, are not so formed, and accordingly the specially constructed separate shoulder strap cannot be used with the garments normally possessed by the wearer. In other words, if the wearer should adopt the specially constructed shoulder strap arrangement her supply of slips would be of no use, or it would be necessary to reconstruct them.

The art discloses that the second effort to solve the shoulder strap problem has sought to provide one or other of the garments with a fixed shoulder strap, also of special construction, wherein the other garment must have special fastening means to utilize the fixed shoulder strap on the first garment.

It is one of the principal objects of the present invention to provide a construction whereby one of the garments, preferably the brassiere or brassiere-type garment, is provided with the usual shoulder strap without any change or deviation from the conventional form whatsoever. The other garment, preferably the slip, is provided with novel and simple means for detachable securement at its upper end to such conventional shoulder strap. It will be appreciated that this greatly simplifies the foregoing prob-' lem, and in the preferred embodiment permits a conventional brassiere to be used, the slip in this instance being free from shoulder straps but being provided with the special fastening means which utilize the brassiere shoulder straps, but requires .no change in its construction. I

The slip is preferably employed in connection with the present invention since the brassiere is a relatively more snugly-fitting garment, and there is less movement of any of the parts thereof, including the shoulder straps. The slip, on the other hand, is more loosely fitting over the major portion thereof.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an improved fastening means of the type described to be used in connection with slips or any other body garments which is relatively less expensive to construct than are the conventional shoulder straps, and which is simple in construction and operation. Also, in the 40 event that more undergarments are worn, they may also be fitted with the present invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a slip or other body garment constructed in accordance with the present invention, the view also showing its use in association with a conventional brassiere.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional brassiere which, when the invention is provided in connection with a slip or other body garment,

forms no part of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the upper portion of the slip constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a broken perspective view showing portions of the brassiere and slip, and the means y l 1 1 2 r of utilizing the shoulder strap of the former for supporting the upper end of the latter.

Fig. 5 is a broken rear elevation of the preferred fastening means constituting the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a broken plan view of a modified form of fastening means, the view showing one end of such fastening means in detached position.

The particular construction of the slip or other body garment, whether formed on the straight or bias of the material, and Whether formed With darts, panels, gores, or otherwise, forms no part of the present invention, and in the drawing a conventional bias-type of slip I3 is illustrated, such slip having bust-encircling portions H and 12 which terminate at their upper ends in points l3 and I4. At the rear the slip is provided at its upper end with rear waist portions l5 and i6, likewise terminating at points I! and It. In some instances the upper edge of the back portion of the garment may be straight or slightly curved, without, however, coming to definite points.

The improved fastening mean is illustrated in Fig. 5 and consists essentially of a short, substantially rectangular strip of elastic material I!) which is secured at one end thereof adjacent to one of the points of the slip by means of stitching 20. At its opposite end a snap-fastening element 2| is provided, one portion being secured I to the rear surface of such elastic strip, and the other element being secured to the portion 15 of the garment adjacent to the point H, in the case of one of the rear waist portions of the garment, all as is shown in Fig. 5.

The brassire 23 is shown in perspective in Fig. 2, and may be any conventional type of such garment, and including bust-encircling portions 24 and elastic strap portions 25 at the rear thereof which are adapted to be detachably secured together by means of any suitable buckle or other fastening means 26. The brassire is further formed with conventional shoulder straps 2! which are secured at their forward ends to the high point 28 of each bust-encircling portion 24. At the rear of the brassire the shoulder strap is secured at 29 to the point of attachment of the elastic strap portions 25.

When the improved garment is to be Worn the brassiere 23 is first secured in place in the usual manner, and the slip next placed upon the body of the wearer. The snap fastener 2! are then opened, and the shoulder straps 21 are positioned between the elastic strip l9 and the upper portion of the slip, after which the complemental portions of the snap fastener are secured toand at the rear of the garment adjacent to the gether. It will thus be seen that the upper terminals of the slip are properly elevated and cannot pass below the opposed lower terminals of the shoulder straps, since the portions of the brassiere below such terminal portions of the strap are considerably wider than the shoulder strap portions.

A modified form of the invention is shown in Fig. 6 wherein the elastic strip 24 is provided with complemental snap-fastening elements 2 5 at each end thereof, and in such case the entire fastening element 24 may be removed when the garment is to be washed. It will be appreciated that Whereas an elastic strip is described herein, a strip of any other suitable material may be employed, such, for instance, as non-elastic Webbing or any other fabric.

Also, any other type of fastener may be employed whereby means are provided for opening the fastener, inserting the shoulder strap, without modifying or changing the latter in any respect whatsoever, and then closing the fastener. It will also be apparent that whereas only one garment, to wit, the slip, is supported on the brassiere shown in the drawing, any number of other garments may be fitted with the improvement constituting the present invention, and may thus be supported on the single pair of shoulder straps.

What I claim is:

In a body garment adapted to be worn under an outer garment, the combination of garment supporting means formed adjacent to the upper edge of such body garment, whereby conventional shoulder straps of a third garment, such as a brassire, worn under the body garment, may be utilized for supporting th latter, said means comprising an elongated strip of elastic material detachably secured at two spaced points on the inner surface of the body garment at the front point of attachment of the shoulder straps to the third garment, a detachable snap fastener element secured at each end of the elongated elastic .strip and a complemental snap fastener element secured to the adjacent portion of the inner surface of the body garment, whereby an end portion of each elastic strip may be detached from the body garment, the adjacent shoulder strap of the third garment admitted between the strip and the body garment and the end portion again attached, thus supporting the body garment on the shoulder straps without distortion of either garment.

MORTIMER J. GREENBERG. 

